Lessons
by FadingRain03
Summary: After entering a boarding school with a rather strange curriculum, Sasuke Uchiha finds himself in a world of frustration. With the unwanted help of Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke may learn a few new lessons one simply can't find in the classrooms of any ordinary school.
1. Chapter 1

Lessons

Prologue

I stood outside with arms limp at my side, knees locked. Everything felt wrong as the rain came down. Gentle and quiet. Water flowed down my face, over my closed eyes and lips to drip off my chin. My black hair was matted to my forehead, soaked as stray strands flowed in the wind. I thought it would feel cold, but it wasn't. Nothing was.

I was warm. I was content.

I was in love.

* * *

"No," I answered bluntly. "I don't want your help."

"But you look pretty stuck."

"Shut up. I got this."

Ok, so maybe I didn't. So what? As I hung upside down, leg caught in a trap that has me dangling from a tree six feet in the air, Naruto stared at me. His face was almost a perfect shade of red after his fit of laughter. I thought he would choke on his own vocal chords if he didn't stop when he did.

"Today is probably the best day of my life," Naruto began on another 'this is great' speech. "The big bad Sasuke who acts all cool is no more than low hanging fruit. Yep, this is defiantly the best day ever. I don't even know why I offer to help. Every second watching you flop around in the wind is another second of joy for me."

"Watch out, idiot," I retorted, "too many big words may scramble that hamster brain of yours. Wouldn't want to have an aneurism now would we?"

"I'm not the one trying to become one with nature. If you stay up there any longer, you'll turn into a big ugly leaf." Naruto grinned. Looking at him upside down like this gave me a bigger head ache than usual. He was always smiling like that. Big and goofy. I hated him. Idiot.

Then again, I am the one stuck in a tree.

Next thing I know a heavy gust of wind has me slowly spinning around. As my body turns, I find myself staring into my teacher's black eyes and then back to Naruto's nauseating blue and back again. Over and over till Kakashi finally asked the big question.

"Why is Sasuke up in a tree?"

I was rotating a bit faster now. My vision was blurred but I could have sworn I saw Kakashi bring his hand up to his masked face in order to stifle a laugh.

"This is an old trap someone probably left after class yesterday. Sasuke and I were on our way to homeroom when he set it off," Naruto answered a little too quickly, an enormous grin hanging on every word. "You should seriously give an A to whoever made this. It works like a charm!"

"Traps aren't a part of my curriculum, although, I have to admit this is impressive." Kakashi began examining the trap as if he was really impressed.

"Sensei?" I said through clenched teeth. "You're student is hanging upside down and you're busy admiring some rope?" Crap. The wind was picking up. I was getting dizzy.

"Hm? It seems you're getting some nice momentum, Sasuke." Kakashi chuckled, ignoring my comment. I hate everyone.

So much.

"Wow, this is an unexpected sight so early in the morning."

Goddamn it all.

I was spinning so fast now, the world was just a bunch of blurred colors, but I'd recognize that head of obnoxiously pink hair anywhere. Even if it looked like I was on a 2 cent ride at a fair run by masochistic clowns.

"Go. Away. Sakura," I grumbled, trying to choke out the words without letting my nausea show in my voice. Around, around, around, I go. Damn it.

I could hear Sakura sigh deeply. Her blurred image grew closer. I felt her hands softly clap against my shoulders as she carefully slowed me down till I finally stopped. She grabbed one shoulder and held me still. My eyes weren't focused just yet and the stop made my stomach churn even worse than the spinning. I shut my eyes and let my stomach settle as I felt her fumble around with the rope around my foot.

"Don't need help. I got—this," I mumbled.

"Sure. Be ready when the rope comes off. I don't want you breaking your neck or anything," Sakura replied. I guess she didn't care if I wanted her help or not.

The rope loosened and for a second the relief of pressure felt amazing for my ankle. Then gravity kicked in and had me plummeting to the ground.

And it probably would have hurt if Sakura hadn't been there to soften the fall. The day couldn't get any worse. I opened my eyes and found her looking straight back at me. Soft green meeting black.

I was in a push up position, hands splayed out on the ground on either side of her head. My legs were spread apart, straddling her. If the proximity of our bodies wasn't enough to make this situation any worse, my face was so close to hers that our noses were touching. I could feel her breath on my lips. I'm sure she could feel mine too.

"I'm going to kill him," Naruto's voice broke the silence followed by a half-assed attempt on Kakashi behalf to hold back his laughter.

Sakura looked more than shock, like a deer staring down a gun barrel.

"Uh," was all she could muster.

I lifted myself off her as much as I could, but my ankle and lower leg decided moving wasn't a priority. I was kneeling now, still straddling Sakura's legs. I glared at her for a moment till she figured out that it was her signal to wiggle out from under me. Wide-eyed and slightly mortified, Sakura now sat crossed-legs in front of me.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

I ignored her apology. I wanted to ignore the whole situation and pretend like it didn't happen. Naruto, Kakashi and my now throbbing leg wouldn't let me though. I carefully swung my damaged leg around and let myself collapse into a sitting position, keeping my ankle elevated off the ground as much as possible. My ankle looked two times bigger than it should and the unnatural shade of purple around the swelling had me guessing something either broke or I was turning into a real piece of low-hanging fruit.

"Great," I muttered.

"You ok, Sakura?" Naruto reached his hand out to help Sakura up. She accepted his hand and stood on wobbly legs. She wasn't damaged from what I could see.

"I'm fine. Just-um-startled is all," Sakura replied with a nervous smile. "Sasuke is the one who's hurt."

"He'll be ok," Naruto grinned, knowing I wasn't ok at all, "He's like a rubber ball. He bounces right back up after he falls down."

"You're the one who's made out of rubber," I said, frustrated.

"Now, now, you two," Kakashi began, "Let's not fight. Sasuke," he addressed me, serious and teacher-like now. Where was that attitude ten minutes ago? "Let's get you to the nurse so we can patch you up."

So, I get hung up in a tree. Then gravity forces me to practically molest a girl I can hardly stand. And now, I get to visit a nurse who I can't stand either?

Great. Today is seriously turning out to be the best day ever.

* * *

Next One: What it Means to Be a Team

Oh. Ok. Is that a needle or a torture device?

Um. Where is she putting that?

Ah. Um? Wait, what?

"NO WAY ARE YOU STICKING THAT THERE!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: What it Means to Be a Team

I could feel my skin crawling as Naruto grabbed my hand and swung my arm over his shoulder. We both glared at each other, far too close for comfort.

"Just for the record, I hate you," Naruto reminded me for the third time since Kakashi ordered him to help me to the nurse's office. Sakura offered to help, but considering her inability to even talk coherently at the moment, Naruto was the next best thing. No, next worse thing actually.

"Hate isn't a strong enough word for how I feel about you," I replied coldly.

"Well, don't you two sound like the best of friends," Kakashi said. "Don't drop him, Naruto. I don't have time for the paper work if Sasuke gets too disabled on school grounds."

More like you're too lazy for the paper work. Wait? Disabled?

"I'll-um-inform the homeroom teacher of the situation," Sakura stammered, face still flushing a bright red. A creepy smile curled onto her face and suddenly I felt like a victim of some pervert's fantasy.

"Can you not inform the entire school about the trap? I'd rather not have to take time out of my week to beat the crap out of everyone for laughing," I said quickly.

She looked at me, face flushing brighter and replied, "A wild bear attacked Naruto and out of the kindness of your heart, you fought it off. Your ankle got damaged in the fight."

"No kindness and I kicked that bear's ass," I cleaned up her little story and shooed her off. She giggled and sauntered away.

"Wait!" Naruto called after her. "Then I'll look like the idiot who messed with some bear! Sakura~" But it was too late. Sakura was already gone. Naruto's eyes flashed over to me. "I hate you."

"Hmp. I wasn't the moron who picked a fight with a bear." I gave him a sinister smirk right before he took the liberty of letting me go on one leg. Then he pushed me. I fell like a rock, flat on my face.

"Now, what did I say about dropping Sasuke?" Kakashi sighed.

After about thirty minutes of me trying to kill Naruto with a stick, we finally started to make our way to the nurse's office. Kakashi left to return to his sophomore homeroom. Naruto and I were freshmen at this ridiculous school. This place was a joke.

"I should have never come to this school," I muttered to myself.

"Yep, you should have never, ever come to this school," Naruto agreed, "I would be living a life of bliss without your grumpy ass pissing me off every day."

"You're the one who pisses me off," I retorted. The very first day of school, he picked a fight with me.

I remember it and not in the fondly sort of way. I remember it like I remember getting the stomach flu two years ago.

I just graduated middle school and was on my way to high school. There were plenty of schools I could go to. Every school I shot for accepted me with enough scholarships to make tuition practically nonexistent. But in the end I didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"I want you to go to Konoha High," my older brother, Itachi, began. I glanced up from my book and stared at the tall, black-haired man looking down at me as I lounged on our living room couch.

"No," I replied simply. "Konoha High is nothing but a bunch of worthless teachers and even more worthless students."

Itachi retorted with a light, understanding smile. "I know it seems like a strange school, but it's a place where you can be yourself. It's received many awards for its creative curriculum. I think—"

"It doesn't matter what you think," I interrupted. "I'm going to the school of my choice."

"Sasuke," Itachi started up again, careful to sound as gentle as possible. I hated how he talked to me like his words could make me shatter. "I'll make a deal with you. If you at least go there for your freshmen year…"

"I'll bring you to visit Mother and Father."

And that was that. I didn't need to agree with him. I didn't need to be happy about it.

I just silently accepted his deal. The next day I was enrolled and getting ready to move into the dorms. Seeing practically my entire middle school at the entrance ceremony had me rethinking my decision.

After the entrance speech by the senior president, I snuck out of the auditorium, trying my best to avoid all my old classmates. Sneaking back to my dorm was easy enough. As I slipped into my room and shut the door behind me, a voice called out to me.

"Sasuke Uchiha? What are you doing in my room?"

All I thought was, '_No goddamn way.'_

I turned around and saw Naruto staring back at me, his ass firmly planted on _my_ bed.

"I could ask you the same?" I walked over to him, scanning the room. I saw something new just recently placed on the opposite wall from my bed. "Better question. Why is there another bed in my room?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Naruto followed my gaze. "Wait. No, this is my room!"

I glared back at him. "No, loser, this is my room. See all the stuff?"

Wait. I looked around. "Where's my stuff?"

"Oh, you mean that boring black luggage and crap thrown around _my_ room?" Naruto began, arms crossed. "I tossed it out the window."

"What?" I yelled.

After looking out the window to find all my luggage two stories down scattered across the grounds, I tackled Naruto.

Ten minutes later, after sending Naruto through the wall and into the next dorm room, two teachers ripped us apart. Iruka and Kakashi were those teachers. Iruka was to be the homeroom teacher to all the freshmen this year, including Naruto and I.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka started to yell. "School hasn't even started yet and you two are already causing mayhem! How do you expect to fix the wall you destroyed?"

"That was Sasuke's fault!" Naruto interjected loudly.

"I wouldn't have thrown you through a wall if you didn't throw my luggage out the window," I replied with a quiet ferocity that would make a great white shark proud.

"Shut it," Iruka demanded, "Both of you will spend the rest of today cleaning up your mess! And you will apologize to the student who's dorm you destroyed."

"But—" Naruto and I protested.

"No, buts!" Iruka put that to end quickly and handed us two brooms. Waiting for us in the hall were two buckets of plaster and some tools that neither of us knew how to use. "Get this done before lights out and I'll think about not reporting this to the principle. Understand?"

We simply glared at each other.

"Understand?" He repeated with a little more emphasis.

"Yes," Naruto and I grumbled.

Kakashi, who was watching Iruka yell at us, finally spoke up. His amused smirk was oddly apparent underneath his mask. "Sakura Haruno will be here soon for her apology. Make sure it sounds sincere if you will."

….No.

"Sakura Haruno?" I began. As in the crazy girl who was obsessed with me in middle school? I knew I saw a bunch of familiar faces at the entrance ceremony, but I didn't see her there too. Then again, I didn't notice Naruto either.

"Sakura is coming?" Naruto asked with a big smile on his face.

"Yes," Iruka answered, his voice filled with frustration. He placed his hand on his forehead and sighed. "And from now on, I'm assigning you three as a team. You both are obviously going to cause problems this year. Sakura Haruno is one of our most promising students. If she can't influence you two positively, I don't know who can."

"Wait, what?" I stared, wide-eyed at Iruka. "What's this about teams?"

Kakashi walked over to Iruka's side and began to explain. "You see, Sasuke, this school is very special. Every student in put in teams of three. You will have the same classes, same schedule, and you will even take several tests together."

I was mortified. "What the hell will that do? If anything, those two idiots will drag me down!" I said. This is not happening. I will not be stuck with Naruto and Sakura for a whole year.

"The world works like that, Sasuke," Iruka started with a sigh. "Nothing can be accomplished alone. If you can't learn to work with others, you will never succeed. That is the greatest lesson Konoha High focuses on. You must strive to create a functioning team."

"At the end of the year the team with the best overall results gets a special award," Kakashi added.

"I don't care about rewards!" Naruto yelled, "You can't force me to work with Sasuke!"

"For once, I agree with the idiot. I will not spend my year dragging his ass around like a tumor." I was livid. Mortified. Distraught. So many negative things.

"Tumor?!" Naruto exclaimed. Another fight was about to erupt when Narutp pulled his fist back for a punch, when a familiar voice snapped us out of it.

"Sasuke? Naruto?" Sakura entered her dorm room, saw the Naruto size hole in her wall and came to the appropriate conclusion. "You two never change. I can't remember how many walls you two broke fighting." She was annoying, but I'll admit she caught on fast. "I just had to be the lucky one with a dorm attached to your room." I was surprised she was so calm. The Sakura I remember would be falling over herself by now trying to smother me with unwanted affection. Maybe she grew a brain over the summer. "Oh and it's nice to see you again, Sasuke," she said cheerfully as she waved at me, eyes glistening with sneaky intentions. Nope. She was still the same Sakura.

I ignored her and asked my next question, "I was wondering, by the way, why the hell is Naruto in my room in the first place?"

"My room," Naruto corrected.

I glared at him and said, "No, I put my luggage in there first. Therefore, it is my room, you loser."

"Actually," Kakashi began, his voice a little too happy for my comfort, "You both enrolled much later than the other students. We had no choice but to dorm you both together."

…..And that's when Naruto and I knew we were both condemned to a year of hell.

* * *

Now here I am, headed to the nurse's office after only a week later. Naruto, of course, the perpetual thorn in my side. He was everywhere. In my room, in my bathroom, in my classes and even in my free time we managed to bump into each other. There was no escaping. Having Sakura around to keep us from killing each other wasn't very effective so far either.

"Well, here you are, Sasuke," Naruto said as he carelessly tossed me towards the nurse's front door. "You can handle the rest, right, peg leg?"

I looked over my shoulder as I used the door frame for support. "I'm not going to even bother answering that. Get lost, Loser."

"Happily," Naruto grumbled and left me to myself. Finally. Some alone time. Yeah, I had to break an ankle to get it, but the silence was worth it.

I waited a moment before opening the door as I savored the few seconds of quiet I allowed myself. My throbbing ankle had other plans, so I sighed and walked into the nurse's office. Well, hopped in is more like it.

"Well, now, what do we have here?" A blonde haired woman with light brown eyes turned in a swivel chair to face me. Her long, green lab coat dragged the floor as she moved. Her name is Tsunade and she has to be one of the most masochistic nurses' known to mankind.

"My ankle," was all I had to say. Her eyes trailed down my body to finally lock onto the swollen half of my leg. It got bigger last I checked. She toyed with a pen in her hand as she stared.

"Well, that sure does look like a problem. Sit down on the examination table and we'll have a proper look."

I hobbled my way to the table and sat down. Tsunade walked over and immediately picked up my leg and pulled it to her eye level. She wasn't gentle in the least as pain radiated stronger than ever through my entire leg.

"Could you be a bit more careful?" I grumbled.

She ignored me and started to rub her hands all over my ankle. I wouldn't say it hurt more than it felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Looks like a pretty bad sprain. You probably pulled a few things here and there. Fluid is building up around the injury, causing some of the inflammation. What did you do exactly?" Tsunade asked.

"Bear fight," I replied. Tsunade laughed and placed my leg back down. After writing a few things on her note pad and pulled out a brace and ankle boot.

"I'll patch you up best I can. Don't take this boot off until your reexamination which will be in a week. Here are some pills to help with inflammation and try to ice the injury before leaving for class in the morning. Keep it elevated as much as you can." With that, Tsunade handed me a little pill bottle and got to work patching up my leg. The ankle boot looked pretty bulky and uncomfortable but it seemed better than a cast to me. At least I could take showers still without covering my ankle in plastic bag.

Ok, so Tsunade was actually acting like a normal nurse today. I remember my physical exam I had to take before entering the school. She ran so many tests and gave me so many shots I thought I had somehow turn into her experimental rat.

"Thanks for not giving me twenty shots like in my last visit," I said.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

"Oh yeah," Tsunade began, her eyes glistening with an evil spark of delight. She was the hungry cat and I was the stupid lab rat who opened his big squeaking mouth. "There were a few vaccines I forgot to give you on our last visit. Let's get that out of the way before you return to class."

"Wait, but—"

"Oh, don't be worried. It won't hurt a bit," Tsunade said as she popped open a box filled with carefully labeled syringes.

Crap. Today really couldn't get any worse.

"Now, drop your pants and bend over," Tsunade demanded, a slender, wicked grin splitting her lips.

And it just got worse.

"Hell no!" I screamed as she pulled out a needle. Actually.

Oh. Ok. Is that a needle or a torture device?

Um. Where is she putting that?

Ah. Um? Wait, what?

"NO WAY ARE YOU STICKING THAT THERE!"

I screamed bloody murder and hobbled to the closet where I was sure some crutches would be stored. Lucky guess. I grabbed the first pair of metal crutches I saw and made a beeline for the exit.

"Thanks for patching me up! Back to class! Bye!" I stammered before Tsunade could protest. Seconds later I was half way down the hall.

Damn it. Look at me. This school was all about team work? What team work!? Here I am, hobbling around the halls, running from a psychotic nurse and how did I get here? I got here because of team work! If Naruto hadn't been annoying me, I would have noticed the damn trap. None of this would have happened.

Team work was for people who ended up with a sprained ankle and a needle stuck in their ass.

…..Well, great. That was me.

Whether I liked it or not.

* * *

**Next One: Mystery in the Haunted Shed**

"So, why is she haunting the place?" Naruto asked as he excitedly searched around.

"Idiot, ghosts aren't real," I said, voice dripping with annoyance.

"I think they are," Sakura added, "In a way."


End file.
